According to the police, last evening Ralubhai had chased the bootleggers, who were carting Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in their Mahindra and Mahindra jeep (GJ-17-C-3088).

After a two-hour chase, apparently fearing that they might be arrested, they threw dozens of liquor bottles on the road and drove away to some unknown place in the thickly forested area.

The head constable, accompanied by a constable, kept watch on the area on Tuesday. He was told that the same jeep was parked on a bridge over a seasonal river in Lavaria village and drove there on his own scooter around 4.30 p.m.

Since it was not possible for the two policemen to overpower the bootleggers, Ralubhai sent his colleague to a nearby STD booth to call for help and himself waited near the jeep with his scooter.

Finding him alone, the bootleggers apparently attacked Ralubhai, snatched his service rifle, and beat him with its butt till he died. The gun is said to have broken into two pieces.

Senior police officials including District Superintendent of Police KLN Rao rushed to the spot immediately on receiving information of the incident. They had not returned till the filing of this news item. According to the police, one Babubhai of Jamran village and an unidentified youth are the suspects in this case.